


Time

by Spider_Man_Mando



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Gen, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Pre-Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24268534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spider_Man_Mando/pseuds/Spider_Man_Mando
Summary: The world kept spinning, even when his had stopped.Time moved. It pushed forward, always changing.Being tired was no longer a passing thing. It was a state of being. He just wanted to rest.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Original Character(s), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Time

**Author's Note:**

> *places this in front of you and runs away*  
> I hope this is okay for my first proper attempt at angst. I hope I have written this right???
> 
> *This is a one-shot

Peter was tired. He was always tired these days. 

Another dreary day was ending, another day he struggled to adjust to this vastly different world than the one he remembered. 

Five years was a long time. And time was everything as Peter was learning.

He reluctantly shuffled through the door to the classroom, steeling himself for another mandatory group counselling session for those that had blipped. Ned was out sick, and that made it so much worse. The sun seemed to agree, the sun filtering through the windows dimming as Peter stepped into the room. He resisted the urge to run or make excuses to let him skip the session since he already knew that the school’s counsellor wouldn’t let him. She knew all his tricks by now, and he was tired. He just didn’t have the mental capacity to try today.

He made his way to his designated chair in the centre of the room, the stiff plastic digging into his back. Plopping his bag beside him, Peter zoned out, just not wanting to deal with anyone else or his own thoughts. Dully, he honed into the steady tick of the room’s clock. It mocked him in the corner, its little hands ticking ever so closer to freedom. Peter tried to ignore it, the steady tick dredging up memories of time slowing and a heartbeat quieting on a battlefield. 

He attempted to focus on something else, when he was tapped on the shoulder by the guy sitting next to him. Peter blinked slowly in recognition of one of juniors, wondering when he had sat down next to him. Peter took in the circle of chairs and had the sullen thought of ‘huh the session started’ when he noticed several of his peers peering at him.

“Hey Peter, Anna,” the junior pointed to the girl standing up on the other side of the chair circle, “was wondering how you dealt with your parents dying. Whether the hurt went away as the years passed?”

Anna waved her hands around as Peter processed what she had asked, adding, “It’s fine if you don’t want to answer Peter, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I was just wondering whether you ever felt better about it. If you had any tips for dealing with it because my parents died during the Blip.”

Peter could barely take in her words as the air was sucked out of his lungs, his thoughts spiralling. His brain taunted him, projecting images of orange and red, dust clinging to his hands, words lodged in his throat as he sobbed at his mentor’s unseeing eyes. Peter clutched his face, pulling on his curls as he hyperventilated.

A memory came back to him unbidden, the Compound’s lab forming in his mind’s eye.

_“Hey Mister Stark,” Peter looked up from his worktable over to his mentor, Tony holding a screwdriver in his grasp from where he was working on the Iron Man suit._

_“Yeah kiddo?” Tony had noticed Peter had been contemplating something all afternoon, and had been waiting to see if he’d tell him what was on his mind. Peter screwed up his face, doubting whether to ask his question. Tony patiently waited, setting the screwdriver down to move closer to Peter._

_“Do you miss your parents?” came out in a whisper. Tony halted in his movements, taken aback._

_“What brought this on?”_

_“I barely remember my parents but it still hurts. And Uncle Ben wasn’t even my father and I miss him more than I miss my biological father.”_

_Tony sighed, “Ahh." He stepped close to the teen, placing a hand on his shoulder. He took a breath, “I don’t really miss my father, but I do miss my mother.”_

_“How do you deal with missing her? Does it ever stop hurting?”_

_“No.” Peter looked up sharply, but Tony wasn’t going to lie to Peter. Tony held his gaze, “You can only make room for it. But not so much room that it leaves you bitter and drives you to hurting yourself. It may take time, but you do feel less of the hurt as time goes, or at least less often.”_

_Peter absorbed his mentor’s words, considering them. Tony, picking up Peter's jacket from a nearby chair,began to lead them out of the lab, “C'mon kiddo, I think it’s time for a break.”_

“-eter? Peter?” Peter was drawn out of his memories by someone shaking him. He dazedly glanced around, his eyes landing on the counsellor who was kneeling in front of him. Anna was just behind the woman, her face distraught, “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to trigger you.”

Peter shook his head as if to distil the remnants of his memories, gradually coming back to the present. 

“You can leave Peter. I won’t keep you here.” The counsellor’s face was drawn as she stood up.

Peter nodded, taking in all the faces peering at him. His face went red in shame; he’d never broken down in school for everyone to see. He shakily stood up, bending down to grab his bag and clutch it to his chest as if it were a shield. Unsteady, he turned to head towards the door, his beat up sneakers squeaking on the floor.  
He walked down the school hallway, shoulders hunched and desperately hoping he wouldn’t run into any other kids who’d stayed after school. As a silent tear slipped down his cheek he whispered to the universe, “I wish you were still here Tony.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any constructive criticism or encouraging comments, I'd love to hear them.
> 
> P.S. I'm hoping to do more one-shots. If you have prompts for me, leave them in the comments below. I can't promise to do them, but ideas are appreciated :)


End file.
